Stepladder



Nov. 6, 1934. A. A. scHRAMM STEPLADDER Filed Sept..- lO. 1930 5Sheets-Sheet l 4 @l l j@ mani-KQ @mm wm NOV- 6, 1934 A. A. scHRAMM1,980,004

STEPLADDER Filed Sept. l0 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 6, 1934. A. A.scHRAMM STEPLADDER Filed Sept. 10 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 6,1934 u y l UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE STEPLADDER Albert A. Schramm,Chicago, lll. Application September 10, 1930, Serial No. 480,919 15claims'. (o1. 22a-3s) This invention relates to ladders and is illusbaseis bent over as indicated at 22 in Figure trated as embodied in afolding stepladder which 1. To further reinforce the top construction,is so constructed that the worker may have an and therefore the ladderas a whole, a metal bar unusually large step or platform on which to- 24is passed across the top and rigidly fastened Work and may move theupper steps out of his to each side member as by the nuts 26. 60

Way. The front legs are properly spaced through The,ladder mayconveniently include folding the rest of their length by the bottom step28 cross-members or beams and a sliding sectional" and spacers 29. Theback legs are reinforced platform which may be drawn out any desiredbythe diagonal strips 30 and the U-shaped strips extent. V3l.v Thelatter extend along and are secured 65 One object of the invention is toprovide a to the sides of the legs as at 32 to prevent them ladder whichis safer than any heretofore known. from twisting.

Another object of the invention is to provide 'I'he proper spacingbetween front and back a folding ladder in which the steps are deep legsis secured by the folding beams, each of 16 enough to enable a user tohave a full, firm and which has the two parts 34 and 36 hinged to- 70shiftable footing thereon, as well as to stand getherfby hinge .38,which will permit the joint near the center of the ladder even when nearto be` bent upwardly only. The beam parts 36 the bottom thereof to makethe ladder less easily arepivoted to the front legs 10 as shown at 40,tipped over. and the beam parts 34 are pivoted at 42 to plates 2oAnother object of the invention is to provide 44 which are riveted toback legs 12. 75 a ladder which the steps above the one being When thetwo beam members 34 and 36 are stood upon may be shifted out of the way,in operative position they form a continuous A further object of theinvention is to prolevel beam as shown in Figure 1. The inside top videa ladder which will be less tiresome to use. edges of these beams arecut away to form the Other objects of the invention will appear recess46. 80 from the following description, drawings and Platforms are formedbetween the beams by claims. laying slats 48 in the recesses 46 to reston the In the drawings, in which like numerals are bottom faces thereof.These slats are mounted used for similar parts throughouton leatherstraps 50 so that they may slideto- Figures 1 and 2 are verticalsectional views of gether along the beams. Of course, any other 35 theladder in its operative and folded'positions flexible platform may beprovided if desired. A respectively; retaining strip 51 is attached toproject over the Figure 3 is a front elevation of the ladder; recess 46to keep the slats in place. Sufficient Figure 4 is a plan view' of thetop of the tolerance is left to insure easy movement of the a5 ladder;slats. As illustrated, the platforms preferably 90 Figure 5 is a detailsectional View showing one.. have a depth, i. e., a front to back width,greater of the sliding platform steps and connecting than the length ofa mans shoe, to'permit the parts; user to stand or'turn around on itwith ease and Figure 6 is a horizontal section of the detail safety.shown in Figure 5, taken along the line 6 6 The front slat 48 isprovided with suitable re- 95 v of Figure 5; ,y inforcing means, 52since it may occasionally be Figure 'I is a detail vertical sectiontakenmalong subjected to abnormal Weights. The member 52 the line 7--7of Figure 5; and also serves as a handle. There may be provided Figure 8is a fragmentary view, similar to a suitable catch foi-'holding theplatform inthe 4g Figure 1, but of a modification. desired position.nThis catch, as illustrated, com- 100 -Although this invention may takemany forms, prises the washer 54snfe'wed to the front beam `only twohave been chosen-for illustration in 36, Yin combination withl 'acorresponding recess the drawings. Bothv forms include two front 58 inthe front slat. When it is desired to slide legs or uprights 10, and twoback legs .or upthe platform out of the way, it ismerely necesno rights12. The legslOgarex pivoted to the topsary to raise the front slat clearof the washer 105 side members 14 which are rigidly secureclto andpushit back.r y the back legs v12 as by Ythe rivets 16. The top-l Whenit is desired to fold the ladder or to get sidemembers are composed ofthe two inner a step entirely out of the way, the step is shoved plates18 andy the U-shaped member 20. To back partially off of the beam memberas shown v y give the legs of the U the desired rigidity, its in Figure2. To facilitate the movement of the 110 `ditio slats around the cornerthe beam members 34 are beveled at their back ends, and the back one ofthe slats 48 is beveled along its back-top edge. To hold the slats inposition ready to be drawn up onto the beams, pairs of racks areprovided. These racks comprise the guide members 62 (Figure 6) and thefillers 64 which position the slats endwise to'enter the recesses 46.

Although the top step 66 may be made in the same manner, a preferredembodiment has been shown. Here the slats 68 are permanently attached tothe cross-members 70 which are pivoted at 72 to the back legs. When usedas a step it is placed in the position shown in full lines in Figure 1,in which case its front end is supported by suitable plates or angleirons 74. The step may be swung over to the position shown in dottedlines to be used for a shelf, in which case it is held in horizontalposition by the upper horizontal brace 31. Suitable means such as aspring friction member may be provided for holding the step in verticalposition between the back legs when it is not wanted and particularlywhen the ladder is folded.

A suitable chain 79 is provided, connecting the upper and lower backbeam members 34 so that both may be moved simultaneously. This should beconnected near the bottom of the members so as not to interfere withclosing the ladder.

To provide a suitable handle and toy further insure against twisting ofthe back legs an adcured across the forward edges of these legs.

To prevent undue wear, and especially elongation of the various pivotholes, suitable bushings and wear plates are preferably provided.

l For example, copper bushings are provided for the pivot holes at 40and 42 where the front and back beammembers have their pivotal support.

'I'he operation of this ladder is as follows. To set up for use, thefront and back legs are spread apart, and the beam members straighteneddown unless theymoved all the way down when the ladder was spread. Thebottom platform (next tobottom step) is then pulled out and secured inits forward position. The secondplatform is left in its back positionunless and until it is needed when it is pulled forward to the desiredposition. When the upper platform is back, the worker can have the useof the entire lower platform,-

so that he has a firm, safe anduntiring footing. The upper platform canbe left in sort of a halfway position where it can be used if desiredand 'yet is not much in the way. Unless the top step is wanted it iseither left in its vertical position or it is turned back to be used asa shelf. To foldvthe ladder, the platforms are slid back beyond thehinges 38 and the two upper beams are broken by raising the centralportions. This also breaks the lower beams,` as the upward movement istransmitted to them through the chain '79. By merely tilting the ladderit then collapses by its own weight. The bottom slats may be securedpermanently in place by so spacing them that no slat lies across thejoint between the two parts` of the beams, as shown in Figure 8.

It is thus seen that the ladder not only is more safe, satisfactory andeicient in use than any heretofore known but it is also as easily foldedas any. Y l I claim:

1. A folding ladder including in a single active position fourrelatively hinged legs, folding beams between and pivotally mounted attheir ends to said legs, a step slidably mounted on said beams,

vrear legs of the ladder l brace 80, or more if desired, may be se'-Vlbeams and slidable to a position and a platform of more than six inchesdepth from front to back located asanother step below said slidablestep; said slidably mounted step being guided from its customary usefulposition to an out-of-the-way position.

2. A folding ladder including a plurality of relatively hinged legs, apair of folding beams between and pivotally mounted at their ends tosaid legs, a platform slidably mounted on said beams, and a rack intowhich said platform may be partially slid, said rack being mounted onthe two adjacent said folding beams.

3. A folding ladder including a plurality of relatively hinged legs, apair of folding beams between and pivotally mounted at their ends tosaid legs, a flexible platform slidably mounted on said beams, and arack into which said platform may be partially slid, said rack beingmounted on the two rear legs of the ladder adjacent their folding beams.

4. A folding ladder including a plurality of relatively hinged legs, apair of folding beams between and pivotally mounted at their ends tosaid legs,'a platform slidably mounted on said beams, and a catch forpreventing the accidental moving of said platform with, respect to saidladder.

'5. A folding ladder including a plurality of'relatively hinged legs, apair of folding beams between and pivotally mounted at their ends tosaid legs, aplatform slidably mounted on said beams, and a projection onsaid beam, said platform be- .ing adapted to engage said projection andto be released therefrom by lifting upwardly.

lvatively hinged legs, an upper set and a lower set of folding beams-between and pivotally mounted at their ends to said legs, a platformpermanently attached to the lower beams but so constructed and spaced asnot to interfere with the folding of the beams, and a platform slidablymounted on the upper beams so that it can be slid out of the way of aperson using the lower platform and to a position where it will notinterfere with folding of the -upper set of beams.

7. A folding stepladder having relatively hinged legs and pairs offolding beams extending between said legs pivotally mounted at theirends to said legs at two elevations; a two-part platform supported bysaid lower beams, one part being permanently secured on each side of thefolding joint; a platform slidably mounted on the upper across thefolding joint in said beams and to a position entirely behind saidjoint; and a third platform above 130 said beams pivotally mounted tothe rear legs of the ladder and movable to form a step within saidladder and alternatively a shelf behind said ladder.

8. A ladder including four legs relativelyA hinged y in pairs, a pair offolding beams between and pivotally mounted at their ends to said legs,and a step shiftably mounted on said beams, a platform of more than sixinches depth from front to back located as another step below saidshiftable step;

said shiftably mounted step being guided from its customary usefulposition to an out-of-the-way position.

9. A stepladder including a plurality of relatively hinged legs, twopairs of folding beams between and pivotally mounted at their ends tosaid legs, a platform of more than'eight inches depth from front to baokattached to the ladder and mounted on each pair of folding beams oneabove the other, the upper platform being shiftably 150 mounted on saidbeams and so constructed and guided that it may be moved from its usualoperative position while the legs supporting it remain in theirlfullyopened position to provide additional leg room above the lower platform.

l0. A folding multiple platform stepladder including a pair of frontsupporting legs and a pair of rear supporting legs, the pairs beingrelatively hinged at the top, and two platforms attached to andsupported by said ladder one above the other each of a comfortable depthof more than about eight inches; the lower of said platforms beingsupported on a set of divided horizontal folding beams each pivotallymounted at its ends to a front leg and a rear leg of the ladder, and theupper of said platforms being supported jointly by said front and rearlegs and shiftably mounted and so constructed that it may be moved fromits usual operative position while the legs supporting it remain intheir fully opened position; said platform being guided to such aposition as to provide additional leg room above the lower platform.

11. A folding ladder including a plurality of relatively hinged legs, anupper set and a lower set of folding beams between and pivotally mountedat their ends to said legs, a platform permanently attached to the lowerbeams but so constructed and spaced as not to interfere with the foldingof the beams, and a platform shiftably mounted on the upper beams sothat it can be shifted and when shifted is guided to a position out ofthe way of a person using the lower platform and where it will notinterfere with folding of the upper set of beams.

12. A folding, multiple platform stepladder including a pair of frontsupporting legs and a pair of rear supporting legs, the pairs beingrelatively hinged at the top, and two platforms supported by said ladderone above the other; each of saidvplatforms being supported by a pair ofdivided horizontal folding beams each pivotally mounted at its ends to afront and a rear leg of the ladder, and means connecting the upper beamand the lower beam, Said mean- Separation of said points to the distanceat which.

they are located when the ladder is opened and the beams unfolded, andsaid means being so being attached to each beam near its point offolding and being so constructed as to limit the separation of saidpoints to the distance at which they are located when the ladder isopened and the beams unfolded, and said means being sufficientlyflexible to pertnit said points to move Closer together than thedistance stated.

14. A stepladder having a plurality of legs, a plurality of stepssecured at least indirectly to some of said legs and supported bysome'of said legs and located one above another according to customaryspacing; at least one of said steps other than the top step being in theform of a platform having a depth from front to back of over six inches,and the stepabove said platform being shiftable, independently of itsverti- Cal supports, from its customary useful position above andslightly to the rear of the front of said platform, and being guided inits movement from said position to a position substantially back of saidplatform so that the space above said platform is substantiallyunobstructed by said step.

l5. A stepladder having a plurality of legs, a plurality of stepsincluding upper steps and a lower step secured at least indirectly tosome of said legs and supported by some of said legs and located oneabove another according to customary spacing; at least one of-said uppersteps being shiftable1 independently of its vertical supports, from itscustomary useful position above and slightly to the rear of the front ofsaid lower fstep, and being guided in its movement from said position toa position substantially further back Vso that a space deep from frontto back above said lower step is substantially unobstructed by saidupper step.

ALBERT A. SCHRAMM.

